“readily available”? where? i had to get a bit off a bloke down a pub, as scaff is generally hired and so the sale of it isn’t encouraged, for some reason.
you need to have friends or crew members who are in the construction industry – have to admit I had made the assumption that in most crews there would be someone in that sort of occupation. In the local crews here there are a number of people in the building trades (every crew has one) and I’ve not noticed a shortage of scaffold poles in our area..there were enough in one crew to make an “anti-mosh” device to prevent speakers from being pushed over! (this is a Thames valley thing…
You are correct though the sale of entire large towers and the like is not encouraged. This is to try and keep cowboys out of the (commercial building industry) market and to deter DIY-ers who may over-estimate their capabilities, for obvious health and safety reasons. Can’t blame the trade particularly with all those poxy home improvement shows on the idiot box..
When you hire equipment you should also be getting tested kit with clear instructions – or even people to erect it for you…. who know what they are doing.
http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/safety/9802.shtml
what most people use are relatively small structures which are not intended to support large loads or people… its probably stuff surplus to requirements from their employers or decommissioned, and is just intended to support lights and décor (even then its probably breaking yet another obscure rule which could be grounds for a “no PEL” prosecution)
if you need some more I’ll ask around….
